


A Winter's Ball

by dancingswanprincess



Series: This One's Hers [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: AU, Gen, and i thought this would be interesting, okay so i wrote this because i was listening to satisfied and got Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 04:19:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12623036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingswanprincess/pseuds/dancingswanprincess
Summary: That Winter's Ball of 1780 could've gone very differently if Eliza had been the first to notice how Angelica was looking at Alexander...





	A Winter's Ball

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is part 1 of a series called This One's Hers, an AU where Angelica marries Alexander instead of Eliza. It will mostly be one shots, and they'll usually be longer than this, but I thought this was a good place to start! Thanks!

Eliza was not known for her love of balls.

Some aspects of it she enjoyed; the dressing up, the hours standing before the mirror with her sisters twirling, watching their skirts fly out. However, she also found balls both physically and mentally exhausting – the dances were almost as hard to remember as the names of the family friends she was meeting constantly. Eliza did not have the silver tongue and quick wit of Angelica, therefore nights spent at balls were usually also spent in her older sister’s shadow. Even Peggy was more of a socialite than Eliza, often leaving her standing at Angelica’s side, or even worse, on the edge of the ballroom watching the people who always seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves.

That’s when she saw him. Eliza couldn’t hear the joke that had been told across the ballroom between the group of soldiers, but his laughter seemed to peal like a bell above the music and polite conversation of the hall. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard any sound quite so sweet before, and found herself unable to stop staring. He was handsome, and by the way he surveyed the room, he seemed to know it. When Eliza made eye contact with him, she immediately turned her face to the floor, praying he couldn’t see the bright shade of scarlet her face had become. How embarrassing, she scolded herself, half wanting to bolt for the door before she could make even more of a fool of herself. She peeked back up to see if he was still looking. Maybe if he was, Eliza could summon up the courage to go up to him, start a conversation. That would really be something.

He wasn’t. Eliza’s face dropped for a second in disappointment before she pulled herself together. It wasn’t so bad; it was just a glance. Maybe it was better his attention had not lingered, after all. If he’d still been looking at her, she probably would’ve only blushed more. However, his attention was fixated on something else nearby – she decided to follow the mysterious stranger’s gaze. If Eliza wasn’t one to grab his attention then she wondered who...Oh. Angelica. That – that was the type of woman who would grab his attention, of course. Of course.

And Angelica seemed to return his attention, for she was staring right back. Eliza felt a tightness in her stomach as Angelica walked away from the small crowd that was gathering around her – she was going to dance. Eliza knew this trick well, however. Angelica had taught it to her when they were children, right before Eliza’s first ball. _“You go to the main dance floor and take any partner you can find. Then, you gradually trade partners and make your way across the floor to the one you **really** want to talk or dance with. But you mustn’t move too quickly, you want it to look as natural as possible.”_

Angelica did exactly as she had instructed her sister to do to all those years ago – she moved across the dance floor with more grace, confidence and dignity than Eliza could ever envision herself having. Eliza’s breath caught in her throat as Angelica stopped in front of the mysterious stranger and his friends. They all seemed to back up to make room for Angelica as she curtsied, but the other three split off as the stranger bowed, took Angelica’s hand, and kissed it. Eliza felt herself go red again.

Even from this distance and through the crowd, Eliza could see the look on her sister’s face clear as day. It was the same face Angelica made when she was getting to the interesting part of a novel that she’d stolen from their father’s library, a look of intrigue. Eliza saw the stranger say something, and Angelica’s face softened into a genuine smile. The stranger then turned to his left, and seemed surprised to see that his friends had vanished. Angelica laughed, her eyes bright.

Eliza turned away.


End file.
